SynthesisFrontiers in public health2026
Comparative effects of exercise modalities on depression, anxiety, and stress in university students: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in Frontiers in public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: To compare the effects of different exercise interventions on depression, anxiety, and stress in university students and to identify outcome-specific patterns and relevant prescription features using network meta-analysis. Methods: A systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched from inception to 31 October 2025. Eligible studies included university students aged 18 years or older, structured exercise interventions lasting at least 4 weeks, and validated measures of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, or perceived stress. Pairwise random-effects meta-analyses and random-effects network meta-analyses were performed. Effects were summarized as standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs), and treatments were ranked using the surface under the cumulative ranking curve. Results: Twenty-five RCTs involving 2,127 students were included. Compared with control conditions, exercise was associated with improvements in depression (SMD -1.07, 95% CI -1.38 to -0.75; Conclusion: Exercise interventions are associated with improvements in depression, anxiety, and stress in university students, with outcome-specific patterns varying by modality. Exploratory findings suggest that time-efficient, moderate to vigorous exercise could inform future research on student mental health promotion. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420261379734.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.